


Good Times

by BluePeople



Category: Jekyll & Hyde - Wildhorn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-20 00:01:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11908980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluePeople/pseuds/BluePeople
Summary: Hyde / Lucy ficlets.  The first one is (dark) fluff; the second one is (dark) sex; the third one is (dark) rescue.





	1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Lucy shows up at Dr. Jekyll's, a few days after Hyde has mauled her.**

* * *

 

"Dr. Jekyll?"

There was a long silence, and then from inside the study, a soft hoarse "Hm?"

"He-… Mr. Poole… he said you'd see me?"

The door creaked open, but it was almost dark inside. Lucy took a slow step in, then another, moving towards the single light in the room – a small lamp on the desk.

The door shut firmly behind her, and she heard it lock. "I'll always see  _you_ , Miss Harris."

She gasped. "Mr. Hyde?" She backed away from him – further into the room, she realized too late. Further from escape. "What are you doing here?"

"Why, Lucy!" He sounded almost injured. "You don't look happy to see me." He moved around lighting lamps, confidently, as if he belonged here.

"I- I just..." she swallowed and drew herself up. "I just wasn't expecting you, that's all," she said with as much spirit as she could muster. This was still Dr. Jekyll's house – she was safe here.

"Henry Jekyll and I are... very close. In fact, he's the one who referred me to you. Didn't you know that?"

She made a note to strangle the doctor for it someday. "I didn't. Well, is he in?"

Hyde laughed. "In a manner of speaking. But I'm afraid Henry can't see you today." She could hear danger in his voice now. "What did you want him for, Lucy – is he a special friend of yours? As special as me?"

"No," she swore immediately. "Not at all."

"No, he wouldn't be," Hyde agreed, relaxing. His lip curled. "You're not his  _type._ "

The contempt in his voice stung her, and she turned away, crossing her arms. "Maybe not, but he's my friend," she insisted, wishing she didn't sound so childish all of a sudden. If Hyde kept on, if he taunted her about not being worthy for friendship even, then she would answer him right back: who was he to talk down to her, when he came running to the slums to  _pay_ for female companionship every weekend!

A low chuckle in her ear – Hyde was suddenly right behind her. She jumped but he threw an arm around her waist to hold her still. "Fortunately I have better taste than he does," he said, licking her neck. "And  _I_  know what to do with a woman when I see one." He shoved his hips into her, grinding hard against her rear until she pulled away.

"Mr. Hyde!" She tried to sound offended, but it came out breathless instead. Nasty as he could be on occasion, he did know how to push her buttons. She turned to face him and raised her chin. "None of that, not now – I'm here to see Dr. Jekyll."

"So you've said. Why?"

"Because. Because he said he'd be my friend… if I needed help."

"Help." Hyde cocked his head. "And do you?"

She nodded. "Yes, I mean the… I have… Mr. Hyde, you hurt me, remember?" she said at last. Firm, for a change. "It started healing, but now it's got worse and it hurts and I wanted to see if anything can be done so that it doesn't scar."

"Mm." He made no attempt to apologize, but after a moment he shrugged and suggested: "Come here. I'll look at it for you."

"You?" she was surprised into laughter. "You're not a doctor."

"I assure you my qualifications are every bit as impressive as Henry's," he said, and moved to stand behind a chair. He put his hands on its shoulders and, feeling his hands on  _her_ shoulders as if she were sitting there already, Lucy shivered. Hyde ignored it and went on: "We were in medical school together. Now, sit. Please."

From him the word was a mockery and a danger, but Lucy felt herself gliding across the room anyway. Her knees were weak and she nearly fell into the chair. "Please don't-  _oh_!"

Hyde bared her shoulders with one quick tug on her shawl. He slid his hand under her jaw and felt her pulse racing. "Shh," he soothed, and then leaned past her to pick something up off the tray of Dr. Jekyll's things.  It glinted.

* * *

 

She must have seen the scalpel out of the corner of her eye; she jumped half a foot and might have fled if he didn't grab her.  "Hush, Lucy," he purred, one hand firm on her shoulder. She was trembling with terror, and he felt that peculiar twist inside that meant the doctor was trying to kick up a fuss. Interesting. "I'm going to cut you," he said... and sure enough, her terror increased and so did Jekyll's agitation.  _Very_ interesting.

"Don't hurt me." She clutched at his hand on her shoulder. "Please. Mr. Hyde, please, I beg you..."

"You misunderstood me," he growled. "I'm not going to hurt you. Settle down. See?" He set the scalpel back down and took something else from the tray instead - a small mirror. "Hold this," he ordered. "And don't move." He turned and rummaged for another mirror, a larger one, and then stood again behind Lucy's chair. "Now hold it in front of you, so you can see."

She did as she was told, flashing the mirror to his eyes a moment, as if gathering up her courage. Then she adjusted it. "All right, I can see."

"This - here." He pointed. "You have to have it lanced, do you understand? I'll cut... there... and then clean it." His finger ghosted over the angry scab, tracing a line just beside it. "You just sit still and breathe deep; it won't take long."

He set the mirror down and retrieved the scalpel. This time, although she sucked in her breath she didn't protest, and Jekyll managed no more than a weak twitch of anxiety.

Hyde chuckled softly and turned his attention to the wound. He had to delve into knowledge that was not really his own, but he knew Jekyll wouldn't  _withhold_ from him, not now. He closed his eyes and envisioned the cut - or rather, let dear Henry envision it for him. As soon as he was sure he knew what to do, he acted. Swiftly, because with a blade in his hand the temptation of her smooth skin was almost too much to handle.

Lucy gasped at the pain and clung tighter to the arms of her chair. "Good girl," Hyde said, and put the scalpel down before the urge to really slice overcame him. He felt Jekyll going limp with relief, weakening, and he smiled. "It'll hurt when I press, but sit still."

"Press?  _Ow_!"

"Hush - almost done." He cleared the wound of pus and then soaked some gauze in antiseptic. "This will hurt as well."

This time she was quiet, and only tensed while he cleaned and covered. When he was finished he glanced up and noticed that she was holding the mirror again, watching his face. "What?" he growled.

"N-Nothing," she stammered, lowering her eyes. "It's just… you were very gentle. Thank you."

He  _did_ have rather a light touch here, didn't he. Perhaps he had borrowed more from the doctor than he'd intended. "You're most welcome, Lucy." He saw that her eyes had watered a bit with pain, giving her that fragile and wounded look he liked so much. He wanted to devour her like a tiger.

But no, that would bring up the sick in his stomach again. Jekyll was quiet and weak, and likely to stay that way if he wasn't provoked, so Hyde only chuckled and bent to kiss Lucy's neck. She sighed, relaxing against him, and he felt Jekyll withdraw even further. Jekyll  _hated_ seeing-...

On a sudden inspiration he knew how to get rid of his annoying shadow for a few more hours, even before the new drugs were ready. "Are you busy tonight, Lucy?" he asked in her ear, and slipped a hand down into her dress.

She gasped – but he pinched only lightly this time, and nuzzled besides. Her better judgment gave way in the face of his almost-tenderness, and she gave him a throaty laugh. "Never too busy for  _you_ , Mr. Hyde."

"Good. I'll get my coat." He straightened up. "I don't think Henry would appreciate it if we dirtied up his study."

* * *

Jekyll came awake slowly, feeling lethargic and peaceful, perfect. He shifted just a little, flinched as something tickled his nose, and then heard a soft chuckle. Female.

His breath caught and it took all his self-control not to tense up visibly and throw his eyes open.  _Where was he?_

He tried to remember. Couldn't. Hyde had taken him somewhere,  _left_ him somewhere, in the company of some loose woman most likely. It would be very awkward when he had to get up and face her, and very difficult when he had to convincingly lie about being an entirely different person than the one she'd gone to bed with.

"Mr. Hyde?" the woman whispered, and he had a terrible feeling that he recognized the voice. In a moment he had it: that performer. Lucy Harris. Someone who knew him by face.  _No._

He fought harder against panic. He reminded himself that the way he was lying his face was almost completely obscured by the unkempt mop Hyde always made of his hair, and the sheet was pulled up over most of his body. Provided he stayed still and gave her no reason to suspect that it wasn't actually Hyde in bed beside her, she would never know.

He wanted to take a look around, but he knew that Hyde's eyes were much darker than his own, black almost. (He knew that from the early days, back when Hyde had cooperated with the experiments. Back when he'd written out descriptions of his appearance and his feelings, when he'd taken doses of whatever was left out for him, dutifully recording their body's response.  _Seizure – sorry_ , the note had read the first time Jekyll awoke to find the lab destroyed.  _I see why you delegate all the poison-taking to me_.).  Different eyes. Given that fact, did he dare to open up?

He thought fast and decided to take the risk – the light wasn't good, and his pupils would be dilated at first anyway. If Lucy only looked fast, she might not notice any difference. He peeked, and through untidy black curls met Lucy's eyes a moment. He gave a short, wordless growl and shifted a bit. How would Hyde behave in the morning?

Lucy smiled at him and reached out to brush his hair from his face. He threw an arm up to ward her off, knocking her wrist aside hard.

"Sorry, sorry." She didn't sound surprised, and only turned to slide out of bed. Jekyll took that opportunity to improve his position – covering himself better, bunching up the shoulder that was still showing. He watched through the curtain of his hair as she stood by the mirror and made herself presentable. "Mr. Hyde, would you… if you don't mind, I mean… the dressing came off last night and I'm worried it might have got dirty again. Would you look at my cut once more before you go? Please?"

Jekyll froze.  _What?_ But she was looking to him for an answer, and he nodded.

"Thanks - really," she said, with such warmth that he almost froze up again. "I'll get a cloth and some water. I don't have any of that fancy medicine, you know, but… here, I'll be right back."

She pulled a robe around her and slipped out of the room.

And the moment she was gone, he sprang into action.  _The window_ , he knew from somewhere. Hyde must have used it once, the drainpipe, climbed down. Fine. He shrugged Hyde's enormous fur over his shoulders, gathered up his clothes in one arm and threw the shutters open with the other.

 _If anyone sees me like this, climbing out of a prostitute's window naked, my life is over,_  he thought. But he made it down the building and into an alley with no one sparing him even a second glance. Once there, he pulled his clothes on – it took longer than it should have because of how hard his hands were shaking - and organized his hair. He bundled up Hyde's coat inside-out and headed home.

There were claw marks on his shoulders and a large collection of little round bruises on his neck. He ached in odd places, his legs and hips, as if he had been doing something highly athletic – acrobatic, even. He ached in ways that were embarrassing to think about. He told himself that whatever had gone on there in Lucy's room, he really didn't want to know about it. But he suspected that that was a lie, and once he found a note in his pocket he  _knew_ it was.

 _Yes,_ Hyde had written.  _You missed a good time._

* * *

TBC.

There are a couple more parts to this, and I'll clean them up and post them over the next couple of days.  Please let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Warning for sex & violence.**

* * *

Lucy had tried to cover the long red line with makeup, but her makeup was cheap and not at all up to the job.  Hyde noticed the moment he walked in. "What is that?"  Grabbed her by the hair to point at it.

"It's nothing. One of the girls."  She waved it off.

"One of the girls _what_ , Lucy?" He released her and looked her over more carefully. "Tell me everything."

"Her name's Sofia. We argued. She's jealous. She scratched me, like the catty little bitch she is. It's nothing, it'll heal." He was frowning at her, and she had to laugh. "Mr. Hyde, you do worse than this yourself and call it a love bite. Please. You know how tough I am."

She tried not to find it endearing that he was  _worried_ for her, or protective, or something. Spider never felt protective. Even when he roughed up clients who had roughed up his girls, it didn't feel protective. Not of the girls, anyway.

"Stay here," Hyde said, and yanked the door open. Lucy stayed, bemused, and retouched her makeup.

When Hyde returned a moment later he made straight for her chair and plopped down. "Get over here," he said. "I have a headache."

The first time it had terrified her, the idea that he could expect her to do more than lie back and hike up her skirts, but by now she was used to it and put her brush down immediately. She went to stand behind his chair. "Hush," she said, hands on his shoulders. She started to rub.

" _Headache,_  I said." But there was no anger in it, only weariness, and she nodded.

"I know, I heard you. We'll get there. First relax, all right?" She began gently, but before long he was growling  _harder_  and  _squeeze,_  and so she dug her fingers in to the knotted muscles until he was grunting in pain. "Better?"

"Mm-hm. Keep going. And my neck."

She shifted her grip, but before she could start up again there was a soft knock from outside the door.

"Ah – there she is. Come in!" Hyde barked.

The door opened and there was Sofia, looking terrified.

"You owe Lucy an apology," Hyde said, lolling his head back. "For putting lines on that pretty face of hers."

Sofia stammered out something that might have been  _I'm sorry._

Hyde turned his head to the side and Lucy shifted her grip again. "There?" she murmured.

"Yes. And you, girl..." he said without looking, "You're going to spend this evening cleaning Lucy's room for her to make up for it. Is that clear?"

He was still reclining back, looking like nothing more than a sleepy black jungle cat, and if it weren't for the growl in his voice and his terrifying muscles hard under her hands Lucy might well have forgotten to fear him herself.

Sofia's voice was harsh with disbelief. "You're asking me to  _clean_ her  _room_?"

Hyde laughed softly. "Not asking." Then he sat up, leaned forward, and pinned her with his eyes. "You'll clean this room, starting now, and not stopping until the floor is so pristine you could eat off it – which you may well do before I'm through with you. If you don't do a job I'm happy with, I'll bend you over that lounge there and see how far up your backside my walking stick will go." He laughed when her eyes darted to the door. "Spider won't mind; he knows I always pay for the toys I break."

Sofia swallowed. Hyde pointed to a heap of clothes on the floor. "Start with those," he said. "Start now."

She started now.

* * *

Rubbing Hyde's shoulders while Sofia scrubbed the floor might be disconcerting, but it was much better than Lucy had expected the evening to go. She would have been perfectly happy to stay doing it all night, only eventually Hyde said out of nowhere: "Do you want a drink, Lucy?"

"A drink?"

"Mm. I'll take you out for a drink. Come on." He vaulted to his feet, stretched his arms over his head, and nudged Sofia with his boot. "She'll keep working until we get back. Won't she."

Sofia nodded frantically, not looking up, and Hyde stepped over her. "Come on, Lucy."

"I-... sure, of course. I'll get changed." She opened her robe and let it fall away, and was rummaging through her clothes to find a dress when his hand closed hard on her arm.

"No," Hyde growled, "I like you as you are. Come."

He shoved her into the hallway completely naked, but before she could really protest he draped his coat over her shoulders.

"Mr. Hyde... I can't go out like this..." she said weakly, but he only chuckled.

"Of course you can."

He shepherded her downstairs with an arm around her waist, and she held his coat closed tight around her. The other girls were dancing half-naked, and here she was, hidden away completely inside a giant fur, but beneath it... It fluttered her tummy a moment and she was shocked at herself. "Mr. Hyde!" she hissed, scandalized, because it was his fault anyway.

He ignored her. "I think we've seen enough of this place, don't you?" he said, looking around the Rat without much enthusiasm. "I'll take you somewhere else."

Not that the club was ever really  _safe_ for her, but still, letting Hyde drag her naked and vulnerable into the wide world beyond was out-and-out  _terrifying._ "Let's... let's stay... It's nice in here..."

He nodded to the Spider as they passed, and Lucy knew there would be no help from that quarter, not since Hyde always  _paid for the toys he broke_. She shivered.

"Now, I know you're not cold," Hyde murmured into her ear. "Not in that. Or are you? Because I could always come in and warm you up."

"Mr. Hyde!" she gasped again.

He urged her outside and around the corner. "Have you ever fucked in an alley, Lucy?" he purred into her ear, and she well knew that purr.

"Yes," she said, and leaned back against him.  _This_ she was more comfortable with. Teasing and flirting with a client, getting him all worked up so that the actual  _work_  would go a bit faster. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I think I've fucked in just about every place there is." She ground her backside against him, and tried not to notice how the lining of his coat slid so smoothly over bare skin.

Hyde reached around and tugged the coat open. "In a park?" he said, squeezing her chest.

"Yes." She said it in an airy gasp, which sounded like pain because it  _was_ pain. All her men loved to play with tits, and none did it gently. At least with Hyde she didn't have to pretend to enjoy herself.

"In a cab?"

"Of course."

She sucked her breath in when his hands went lower, parting her thighs roughly to touch between. "Somebody's wife's room?"

"Mm-hm. Not proud of that, by the way.  _Oh._ " This time it was only half pain.

He laughed. "A church?"

"More than one."

"Good girl. An office?"

"Mm-hm."

"Cemetery?"

"Yep. I told you, Mr. Hyde, there's nothing new for me. Not anymore." That made her a little sad and maybe it showed, because Hyde instantly grew quiet, less playful.

"Hm." He slipped his hands out from between her legs and held her by the shoulders instead. "Classroom of a very prestigious medical school?"

She blinked. "What?"

Hyde nibbled on her ear. "A friend gave me a key." Then he bit – hard.

" _Ow_. I-... you aren't serious...?"

"I'm very serious." He let go and took her by the wrist. "Come with me. We'll add another cab to your resume on the way."

* * *

They didn't  _quite_ add another cab; Lucy knelt down and kept him on the edge for the whole ride and never gave him quite enough to finish.

Because Hyde was  _dangerous_ when he was finished; where most men just wanted to curl up and go to sleep, or run guiltily back to their wives looking like they might puke, Hyde wanted to draw blood and screams. She was never sure why. The first time she'd thought she had displeased him somehow, but then he'd left four hours later telling her she was a goddess and seeming to mean it.

She'd once tried booking back-to-back appointments so that Hyde would  _have_ to leave right after they'd fucked, but instead of saying goodbye on schedule he'd ducked behind the door, beaten the next client half to death when he came in, and then beaten Lucy very nearly to death too. Since then she'd learned that it was wisest to just keep your head down and let Hyde do what he wanted...

That was second-wisest, at least. The  _wisest_ thing to do was to draw the evening out, make him work good and hard for his climax so that when it finally came it sapped him of all his terrifying energy. Which was what she meant to do tonight.

When they arrived at the school Hyde paid the cabbie and then dragged Lucy into the shadows to grope her up against a wall. When she was nearly as worked up as he was he stopped, and pulled her into a side doorway, where he unlocked the door using his friend's key "while you keep an eye out." She was breathless with fear and excitement when he finally shoved her inside.

"What if we're seen?" she whispered, knowing that speaking aloud would echo in these halls. "We'll be arrested."

The gravel of Hyde's voice seemed to bounce off the walls from all directions at her. "How many times must I tell you, Lucy," he growled. "The policemen could never take you away from me."

Usually that was a threat, but this time she was glad of it and pressed close to him in the darkness.

"This way," he said.

He led her through corridors and up stairs, and she realized that they were passing classroom after classroom – apparently not the ones he wanted. "You know this place," she realized.

He growled without words, like an animal.

"Were you in school here?" He'd told her once or twice about medical school. She had only half believed him.

"I despise this place." That was all he said until they arrived. Once he'd found the lecture hall he wanted and opened the door carefully, he elaborated. "I was here. I hated here, I was smothered here, I bled here." He shoved her across the threshold, snatched her by the hair and marched her up to the lecturer's table at the front of the room. He pushed her down on top of it. "Now it's your turn."

* * *

It was actually not as bad as she'd feared. Perhaps because she'd primed him so well, or perhaps because he really  _was_ upset by the place, Hyde did little more than pound away savagely into her until he came. He bit once or twice, pinched a little, but these were occupational hazards Lucy had long since learned to ignore. Despite his ominous mention of  _smothering,_  when he took her by the throat it was only for a grip to fuck her by; he didn't cut off her air for more than a few seconds at a time. (And of course, she gagged and choked readily for him when he did, and also yanked at his wrist. He always liked a bit of struggle.)

When he was finished he snarled and spat on the lectern – a nice change, that; in the past he'd sometimes spit on her face – and then laughed.

"School's out," she whispered, and gently detached his hand from her throat. She kissed his palm and said against it: "Good?"

And then he was leaning down, almost laying on her. It was unusual – and highly uncomfortable, as she was bent backwards on a desk. For a while she held his head to her chest and stroked his hair, a habit after all the men who liked to cuddle, but eventually she started to squirm. "Hang on. There's a pen or something digging a hole into my back."

Hyde laughed and pulled her up enough to move it, then laid her back down. When they shifted his prick finally slipped out, and she watched him wipe off with his hand and smear  _that_ all over the table, too.

"Not your favorite professor?" she guessed.

Mistake. Hyde grabbed her throat hard this time, and-  _CRACK._ Her head banged against the desk before she even realized she'd been slapped.

"Sorry-" she tried to say, but he slapped her again, and again. She tensed underneath him, eyes screwed shut, braced up for another blow.

None came. All was quiet. Eventually he let go, and put both hands on her collarbones instead. "Apology accepted," he purred, and she didn't like how close the hands were to her neck but still she made herself open her eyes. "But don't tease. Not about this place."

Lucy nodded and he let go entirely. He backed away, wiping his face with one hand, looking strange and absolutely  _exhausted_. He meandered around the room for a while in silence. Eventually she spoke up. "Shall we go?" she said, timid because disturbing him in his mood might well get her slapped again. But their fucking had been loud enough to wake the dead, let alone the police, and she didn't want to be lying here naked when they arrived.

He nodded. When she stood covering herself with her hands he grinned suddenly, looking a lot more like his usual self, and tossed her his coat. "You can have it at least as far as the cab."

In the cab he played with her gently, but he was quiet and pensive and by the time they got back to the Rat it seemed his appetite was up. Not his lust this time – it was his other, darker hungers.

Sofia was still cleaning, and Hyde threw her out with a blow that made Lucy wince. Then he tossed his stick down on the bed, pulled off his shirt, and dragged Lucy to stand with her back against his chest.

Skin to skin he paused. Breathed low and steady into her ear.

Then he stroked her hair out of the way, and she saw in the mirror that he was stretching his jaws wide. Warming up.

She was in for a  _marathon_ biting session tonight, somehow she knew it. He would draw blood. Over and over, until he had to pay Spider for her whole week, until she had to lie in bed and let the girls hold boozy cloths to her back as the wounds scabbed.

"Please don't," she blurted out. They had been almost  _friends_ tonight, and he would spoil it. "Not now."

Then she froze. Begging only turned him more savage, always. What was she thinking?

Hyde breathed into her ear again. Licked it. Then he purred: "Lucy... what would you say if this was my last night on earth? Would you still say:  _not now_?"

She tried to turn around to face him, but he was holding too tight. So she met his eyes in the mirror at least, and repeated: "Last night on earth? What's going on?"

"Dear Lucy. Is that concern I see?"

She snorted. "Want me to lie?"

Hyde reached around and she sucked in her breath, tensing, as he took her nipple between his fingers. But it was only a warning – he didn't pinch. "Sorry," she offered at last, and he let go. But the curiosity was too much to fight, and she turned to look at him head on. "What do you mean by  _last night on earth_?"

He sighed. "I have an… unusual… living situation. It is precarious at best. I'm afraid I'm not long for this world, Lucy – and I won't have a chance to say goodbye." He smiled at her, and it was a terrifying smile. "That means each time you see me could be the last time. This, tonight, could be the last time. Will you still tell me  _not now_?"

She swallowed. His eyes were gleaming. Pain and danger, she could  _see_ it... but still she shook her head.

"Are you ready to give me what I want?"

She  _hated_ him. Hated. But she nodded.

"Good girl. Turn around."

She hoped this really  _was_ his last night. She did. But she turned around as requested, and moved her hair out of the way for him. She felt his breath move over her first – and then his teeth.

* * *

**TBC...**

 


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Takes place a while after the last one. Half a year after Jekyll banishes Hyde, Lucy shows up on his doorstep...**

* * *

"I'm so sorry to bother you," she began.

"Please." He smiled at her. "It's no bother, Miss Harris. I gave you my card for a reason - if I can help you, I'm glad to do it. Please come in."

He guided her to a chair by his desk, and sat opposite her. Easily, this time. He could remember sitting with her once before, when tension was thick in the room and her presence suffocated him, but that was another lifetime. He had no secrets now; the air was clear.

Until she said, bluntly: "I need to find Edward Hyde."

"I-." He gaped at her. "I don't understand." He hadn't spoken the name, and hadn't allowed it to be spoken in his presence. Except for his nightmares, which he could not control, he had not thought the name at all.

"It's simple. He vanished six months ago, and I can't find him, and I need him – and I know you know him," she said in a desperate rush. "I know you were in medical school together. I know that six months ago he still had the keys to your house." When he recoiled, she reached out – as though to reassure him! "I don't hold him against you," she said. "Please. Whatever you are to each other is not my business, not my place to ask and I won't. But I know you are close with him. And-"

"No. Not  _are. Were_." Finally he found words to interrupt her. "Hyde and I-... were... it's true. But, but not any longer. He's gone."

Her eyes widened. "Gone? You mean dead?"

The lie stuck in his throat, but he managed to nod.

"Dear Jesus." She covered her face a moment, but just as Jekyll was wondering if he should get up and go to her she pulled herself together on her own: sat up very straight and regarded him levelly. "Dead. Are you sure?"

"I-. I don't know."

"You don't know." She let out another slow breath. "All right, well, that's my problem and not yours. Please just tell me where I can find him - where I  _could_  find him, if he's all right. And I'll take it from there."

He was fundamentally unsuited to deception. What little cunning he'd ever had in him he'd poured out into his enemy, it seemed, and he'd kept none for himself. "I... can't tell you where he is now," he said at last. "I'm sorry. But perhaps  _I_ can help you? If you tell me what the problem is?"

She laughed, bitter and derisive. "Thank you, doctor, but it's not your kind of problem."

Her tone stung. "How would you know what are my kind of problems or not?" he shot back. "I promise you, Hyde has nothing to offer you that I can't match."

Lucy pursed her lips. " _Has._ "

He couldn't believe his own stupidity.

"Tell me where he is."

"Tell me what you need him for. I will take care of it. Miss Harris, please." He cast around for possibilities. "If it's money, please, I'll pay you  _without_ asking for-, for any of that. If you need protection, I can call you police, or-... or..."

"Police won't help," she said shortly. "My problems are ugly."

"Miss Harris." He was trying not to feel irritated with her, but how  _dare_ she belittle and dismiss him! "I have worked on projects of the utmost ugliness. Please believe me." He took out a pen, cool and clinical. "You came here for my help and I'll give it to you - but only if you cooperate. Tell me everything."

"There's only one kind of help I need, I told you. And if you can't give that to me-"

"I can!" It was pride talking - pride and anger. But whatever his reasons he had said it, and it was too late to back out now.

Her eyes narrowed. "You can tell me where to find Hyde?"

"I can get a message to him. If that's sufficient, please start talking."

"I-. All right. Well. I don't know how to start." Her eyes flickered up a moment, but then she turned in her chair so that she could avoid looking at him entirely.

"Here," he interrupted, before she had even begun. "Go to the couch; it will be easier. Start however you like, and say whatever you feel." He found a reassuring smile for her somewhere. "I have treated diseases of the mind; I assure you nothing you can say will faze me. Please."

She went where he directed her - but perched awkwardly.

"Lie back," he said, from the desk. "Try to relax." She took it as an order, and it occurred to him that he would have had no trouble at all managing her if only he'd been wearing his lab coat.

 _L.H._  he wrote. Underlined it. Added a date.

"So, the thing is, I'm not young anymore," she began.

"How old are you?"

"I'm twenty-two."

"Mm. That's young in an absolute sense. But you mean in your profession."

"In my-? Yes."

"And what do you call your profession, Miss Harris? Forgive me, but I'd rather not offend you by guessing at terminology."

"Come on, you know what I am. I'm a working girl."

"Working girl," he echoed as he wrote. "All right. Please go on. So you're not young for a working girl...?"

"That's right, and it's the young ones who get the better end of things. They earn more, and they're more worth protecting because Spider sees it as a sounder  _investment_. When a girl gets old, it's nothing to him whether she's treated right. Whether she's perky or exhausted, whether she wears a fancy dress or rags, whether she's sick or well. Even whether she lives or dies."

"I see." He hesitated. "But I was under the impression that you were a valued, uh, employee."

She laughed. "What, because he introduced me as a star on the night you came to club? He says that about  _whoever's_ onstage that night. It's supposed to make people pay more for us." Then she froze. "Please don't tell anyone I said that. If Spider hears-"

"Nothing you say will leave this room. Please go on."

"Well. I'm older now, and I missed a lot of work because of Hyde, and-"

"He paid you for that," he interrupted, almost panicked. "Didn't he?" It had been his only consolation, that Hyde had compensated the woman for all the misery he had brought.

"Oh yes," she said – bitterly. "Paid me handsome. And Spider kept it; that's his way. But Hyde's jealous. He's roughed up my other clients before. Spider doesn't want trouble, so he started warning the fancy ones off me. So I started making less. Which means I'm worth less to the house, and it shows. Spider stopped standing up for me when men were-... you know. Then he started steering those ones towards me on purpose. Doesn't want to risk any of his better girls. So now..."

"So now you're obliged to see the clients who are violent or dangerous," he finished for her.

"Yes. There's one more than all the others who's terrible, belts me around and chokes me out – all the way out I mean; everyone chokes a  _little_  but this one puts me to sleep and I wake up with him- um-. You don't need me to draw a picture." She sighed. "Spider lets him. Eggs him on, even. And this week he moved another girl into my room with me, and people say he said she'll soon have it to herself. I think-… I think I'm not safe at the Rat anymore. They're going to turn me out – or worse."

Jekyll put his pen down. "Well-... so leave!" he said, aghast. "I can find you employment somewhere else. For God's sake, I'd hire you myself! Not like that," he added, when she tensed. "I meant respectable employment. You can keep a house or something – can't you?"

"I can't leave." Her voice had suddenly gone tight and nervous. "I'd be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life. Can you imagine what he'd do if I-...was gone?"

"Spider? But you said he's more concerned with his other girls-"

"Not Spider."

"Your client? Give me his name, and I'll see that he's arrested. Men can't-"

"Not him. Hyde."

His stomach sank.

"Hyde told me once that-... he-..." She was gasping for breath. Finally admitted: "I can't."

He didn't go to her; it would be unprofessional and just now professionalism was his only bulwark against falling apart. "There are-... handkerchiefs beside you, Miss Harris," he said quietly. "And water. On the table."

He gave her a moment to compose herself. She did it more quickly than any woman he'd ever seen, which was heartbreaking in its own right. "I can't leave," she said flatly, when she had finished weeping. "If Hyde is alive, and you've said he is, then he'll come back for me someday. He said he would. And if I'm not where he's expecting me to be, then  _he'll_  be the one to kill me. If I haven't already died on the streets."

He swallowed. "So that is why you need Hyde in particular. You need his... permission."

She nodded. "That, or better yet I need him to come break a lot of heads and collect me from the place entirely. He used to joke that I'd come live with him someday. I never believed it, but...  _he_ seemed to." She took a long shuddering breath. "I'm more to him that just a hole to squirt into - pardon. But I know he  _will_ come looking for me eventually." She shuddered. "I just can't wait til eventually." She moved restlessly. "I really didn't mean to come and, and lay this all at your feet. I just... you wanted to understand why. Why I need Hyde. And now you understand."

"Yes - I understand."

She rose from the couch and turned to face him. "So... you'll pass the message along to him?"

"I'll let him know that you need him."

She nodded. "And in the meantime I'll be right where I am," she said, "Doing what I'm doing, and hoping for the best. So please tell him to hurry."

* * *

He knew that he couldn't refuse to help her, not after what she'd said and what Hyde had done. Even if he could tell her Hyde was dead and mean it with all his heart… she would never be free of him. Not until she had heard a farewell from his own vile lips.

He knew that that farewell could cost him dear. But whatever price Hyde exacted he would just have to pay; he had to undo this one last piece of harm that the creature was wreaking. Lucy Harris was not well, and the cause was the trauma that had been visited upon her, and until the specter was put to rest there would be no cure.

He wrote a careful note to Hyde, impressing upon him the seriousness of the girl's situation, the blame, the solution. He made sure to describe her latest problem client in graphic detail; he knew Hyde would hate the idea of the girl harmed by any hand but his.

Harder than the note, though, was the drug. His stores were long gone. He'd destroyed every trace of the substance, every notebook that could have told someone how to make it again.

But of course he remembered. The formula and the procedure, as he'd originally conceived it, were seared into his mind. Later improvements, unfortunately, he was less certain about – he had developed them sleeplessly, in desperation, wracked with guilt and terror.

But he was stronger now, surer, patient and in full command of his faculties. It took some long nights in the lab, a great deal of glassware broken in frustration, but eventually, he had his success.

When the time finally came, he expected to take the drug in a mood of smothering dread. Instead – though he did fear – he felt the same deep curl of excitement in his belly, just like that first night. He told himself that he didn't miss it – that of course he could not miss it – and prepared just a small dose. Just enough to change him for a few hours. He knew, now, that if it truly came down to it, if he and Hyde truly fought… he was the stronger. He had been the stronger when he was sick and desperate and alone and Hyde was brimming with satanic confidence. Surely, their powers would be even more unequal now. Surely Hyde presented no threat at all.

He tried to pray, and failed, and gave himself the injection anyway.

* * *

Jekyll awoke sick and shaking, sore and weak and bathed in sweat - exactly the way he'd used to awaken after  _experimenting._  After being Hyde.

He looked at the clock. Four hours had passed. As expected.

When he looked at the door, though, he got a surprise. The door was just locked with a key, not bolted the way Hyde preferred. That was odd because Hyde had been very consistent about that preference; he'd taken notes many times on the creature's powerful instinct for going to ground when it felt threatened.

How odd. And he  _hated_ not understanding. He dragged himself to his knees, using the bench for support. Once there he rested, leaning his forehead against the cool metal, laughing bitterly because of  _course_  this was where he ended up, again, the lab his God for all intents and purposes. How ridiculous of him to ever imagine otherwise.

When his stomach roiled a little less and his thoughts were a little more organized, he hauled himself up the rest of the way to his feet.

And then froze. The lab was... used. Not destroyed, not the way it had been after Hyde had had a tantrum, but clearly used and used well. Some of the vessels had been washed and were still drying, but his materials were all organized and there were six vials of blood-red solution corked and lined up neatly, along with five that were grey and one empty, on a fresh piece of paper.

The paper said, in Hyde's scrawl: " _Inject yourself tonight just after dark. We do it my way or not at all._ "

He swore and rubbed at his headache. Almost immediately, though, he noticed something worse: one of his notebooks was lying out, with a pen.

Hyde had  _used his notebook._ His hands shook as he flipped through the pages. It was deeply, unspeakably revolting. It was worse even than the time he had realized Hyde was using his toothbrush and clothing. That time it had been just his body that was defiled, but now... Hyde had polluted his mind. His  _work._

He took a moment to let his stomach settle. If he vomited over months' worth of notes and ruined them, he would never forgive himself.

When he was ready he found Hyde's entry and started to read. It was dated, neat, lucid... entirely an entry he might have written himself, except that the handwriting was wrong and he knew damn well that he had not written this.

The chemistry was new but not complicated. What Hyde had done, he saw at once, was develop a drug that would not wear off in the course of an evening, that would linger for days - perhaps longer - if not counteracted.

And he had developed what looked to be a working antidote. It wouldn't have been difficult; Jekyll had effectively developed it already. The difficult part had always been combining the two, ensuring that the drug would work and then, after an appropriate time had passed, yield to its opposite. All Hyde had had to do was separate the old formula into its two separate halves. "Fitting," he muttered to himself.

He hunted for the dirty syringe and examined the traces that were left behind. It was similar to his original solution... but it was not exactly the same. He checked the time, picked up his pen and started taking notes on his pulse and pupils. Like it or not, he was part of an experiment now.

* * *

Hyde awoke in the lab, as per usual. He rose to his full height, cracked his neck, and got more comfortable. Jekyll's stiff awful shoes removed in favor of comfortable (old, bloodstained) boots. Buttons at his throat and wrists ripped open. Hair unbound. Much better – if he didn't worry about drawing unwanted attention he'd prefer to roam the streets naked.

He made his way to the Rat. He was in no danger of fading away tonight; he could take as long as he liked… but he found he was too eager not to hurry. He arrived, strode in with purpose and took stock. A few of the girls knew him and kept their distance. A few others - new ones; turnover was quick - came up and tried for his interest. He pushed them away without anger and kept looking.

Spider was by his side almost immediately. "Mr. Hyde. We haven't seen you."

"Where's Lucy?"

The creature was smart enough not to waste any more time. "I'll get her," he said, and did just that even though she was clearly in the middle of entertaining someone else upstairs. When she was brought down and flung at his feet her clothes were in disarray and her makeup smeared.

"Hello, Lucy." It was a thrill talking to her, but he waited for the bigger thrill of her responding, of her cowering against him and stammering out his name.

But this time it did not come. "Hello, Mr. Hyde," she said, with what was almost confidence, and stood up on her own two feet. "I'm so glad to see you." She reached out, towards his face.

And he reacted as to a viper strike: dodged the contact and knocked it aside with a sharp blow from his stick. When she cried out and clutched at her wrist, he hit her again, in the side, to double her over. Then he took her by the hair and yanked her head around to look up at him. Now,  _now_  she was greeting him in the way he liked, flinching from his every movement, gasping with pain. "I'm glad to see you as well, my dear," he purred down at her. Without taking his eyes off her he addressed her owner. "I'll be taking her with me tonight – and I won't be bringing her back."

Lucy yelped  _No_  in a panic, and tried to pull away from him. Some of the other girls gasped. Spider, though, took the declaration in stride.

"Sir. You aren't the first who's developed a, say, special bond with one of my girls," he purred. "Developed a bond and tried to take her away from me." He was smiling. "Far be it from me to stand in the way of my girls' happiness, so, what we usually do in these situations is I let you take her – once you've settled up all her debts."

"Debts," Hyde echoed softly. "I see." The foulness, the  _lowness_ offended him.  _This_ was considered a true and full human being under God, while  _he_ , as Jekyll never tired of reminding him, never would be. "I will settle that here and now." He turned away, reaching into his pockets as he did so. After fumbling around a few moments, he faced Spider again – with both of his hands behind his back. "Now," he said, smiling. "In one hand I have all the money you could possibly want. In the other, I have a walking stick with which I can crack skulls with ease." He chuckled. "Speaking from experience. So, I will let you pick a hand, and I'll settle Lucy's debt with it, and either you'll leave here a rich man or pieces of your brain matter will be smeared across the floor and walls. How does that sound?"

Spider stared into his face a moment, considering. "Actually, I believe our Lucy's accounts are all settled up," he said at last. "Enjoy her – and when you're done with her I hope you'll come patronize us again. We have plenty of other fine girls for you to meet."

"I have all the girl I need," Hyde said, and pulled her out into the night.

* * *

At first they rode in silence; she didn't know what to say. Finally  _he_  spoke up. "I smell it on you," he said softly.

She was still rubbing her wrist where he'd hit it – hard, and for no reason. What had she been  _thinking_ , to try and touch his cheek? As if tenderness for Hyde made any sense!

"It? What  _it_?" His eyes gleamed and suddenly she understood. "Oh. That's because I'm a whore, Mr. Hyde. A cheap, backdoor whore these days. So I'm sorry to disappoint you, if you were looking for something better, but-"

"Lucy." He let out a slow rumbling breath, then sat forward – towards her. She shrank back. "Be quiet." He put fingers under her chin and tipped her head up – gently. Gentleness from Hyde could be dangerous, she knew that, but when she looked into his face she saw no fire that concerned her. Only gentleness. "Don't you dare disparage my goddess," he said softly. "You are perfection, and I adore you."

"Um-. I." She was at a loss for words.

"Now." He smiled at her. The smile was familiar, but she couldn't place it, and before she could spend much time trying she had to focus on other things. "I owe you thanks, Lucy. You made enquiries about me, and they saved my life."

"Am I really leaving the Rat?" she burst out. "Because, because if I am, then you've saved my life too, and we're even, so-"

"I don't ever want you to set foot in there again," he said. He dug in his coat and produced more money than she had ever seen in her life. "Be a good girl and I'll take care of you. Get a room somewhere, and do not share it with any men. I am planning to come around and visit you every now and then, and I don't want to smell it on you when I do."

She stared at the bills. "I... don't understand. I mean I do but-... I don't-... I don't know how to thank you..."

"Yes you do. Come sit on my lap." He sat back and reached for his buttons. " _All_ the way on my lap."

She knew without asking that she should also loosen her top and bare her shoulders. He licked his lips.

* * *

The End.

That's it for now. Let me know what you think!


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